As McFall Center closes, seniors weigh where to go next

STOCKTON - Leona Segura joined in with the other seniors at McFall Center on Thursday as they applauded a karaoke singer's rendition of the 1970s soul classic, "Me and Mrs. Jones."

Zachary K. Johnson

STOCKTON - Leona Segura joined in with the other seniors at McFall Center on Thursday as they applauded a karaoke singer's rendition of the 1970s soul classic, "Me and Mrs. Jones."

Segura, 85, began coming to the center as a volunteer a very long time ago, she said. Even after she moved to Manteca, she continued to come to the center to have meals with friends.

"We are just like one big family here," she said. "We're going to miss it badly."

Today is the last day seniors will be able to come to the center to eat, dance and spend time with friends. And Thursday, which always draws a big crowd for bingo, was the last hurrah.

Since it opened in 1980, the McFall Center has been the headquarters for the Senior Service Agency of San Joaquin County, also called Seniors First. But the nonprofit shut down in June after providing hot, delivered meals and other services for county seniors for nearly 40 years.

Since June, volunteers have kept McFall Center open as a place for seniors to meet, dance and have a meal while the defunct agency's officials closed out the nonprofit. But today is the last day the cash-strapped agency's headquarters will have running water, so it's time for the seniors to go somewhere other than the McFall Center, which is owned by the city.

City and county officials have been talking to the seniors and handing out fliers to help them find other places to spend their time.

They've also made an arrangement with the San Joaquin Housing Authority so the seniors can go to the Franco Center Apartments a couple of blocks away.

The complex already has an array of programs in its 10,000-square-foot community center for residents of the apartments, which cater to seniors, said Kristi Rhea, who manages the center and other Housing Authority properties.

Having someplace else to go is important, because seniors need the mental and physical activity they get while socializing, said Wendy Moore, deputy director of county Human Services Agency.